Softball Splits MASCAC Twinbill with Mass. Maritime

By Jim Fenton

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team split a doubleheader with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Monday afternoon.

After losing the opener, 2-0, on a pair of unearned runs in the sixth inning, the Bears rebounded for a 15-3 victory in the second game at Rollins Field.

BSU registered a season-high in runs in the win and had 20 hits with sophomore Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) hitting a pair of home runs.

Winning pitcher Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) struck out 13, the most by a BSU pitcher this season, and improved to 5-4.

The Bears are 11-15 and 4-6 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while the Buccaneers are 16-14 and 3-7 in the conference.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 15, Mass. Maritime 3

After being limited to five hits in the opener, the Bears had 20 in the second game.

Hargreaves, a sophomore, helped her cause by going 4-for-5 while Schaefer was 4-for-6 with six RBI and the two homers.

Junior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) had three hits and drove in three runs while sophomore Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.), senior Amelia Blake (Raynham, Mass.) and senior Emily Marcotte (North Dighton, Mass.) had two hits each.

The Bears went up, 5-0, in the third as junior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.) walked, Lynch singled and Ansell bunted for a hit to load the bases.

Schaefer delivered the first two runs with a single to center and Blake made it 3-0 with a single to right-center.

Hargreaves then hit a ground-rule double to right for a run and Marcotte walked with the bases loaded.

The lead went to 6-0 in the fourth when Schaefer hit the first home run of her career to left field.

Mass. Maritime was within 6-2 in the bottom of the inning on a two-run ground-rule double to left by freshman Natalie Gale (Norwood, Mass.).

The Bears went up, 9-2, in the fifth inning.

Marcotte bunted for a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a triple to left-center by Lynch.

Ansell then hit a ground-rule double to left and scored on a double through the left side by Schaefer.

After Mass. Maritime scored in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by junior Kelsey Booker (Corning, N.Y.), BSU scored six more times in the seventh inning.

Ansell reached on an error and Schaefer homered to left for an 11-3 lead.

Blake reached on an error and Hargreaves singled through the right side. Junior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) singled in a run and after Marcotte singled to load the bases, Becker singled in a run and Lynch had a two-run ground-rule double.

Game One: Mass. Maritime 2, Bridgewater State 0

The teams were scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Senior Rubi Butler (Plainville, Mass.) drew a walk and freshman pinch runner Ryan McDonald (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) went to second on a bunt single by Gale.

A throwing error on the play, the third BSU miscue of the game, wound up allowing both runners to score.

Both teams had five hits with the Bears getting a double from Schaefer and singles from Lynch, Ansell, Blake and sophomore Sidney Schwartz (Chelmsford, Mass.).

BSU did not get a runner to third base until the final inning when Schaefer reached on a fielder's choice, went to second on a flyout and to third on an error on the play.

Winning pitcher Jennamarie Klemp (Onset, Mass.), a senior, improved to 8-8, striking out two.

Sophomore Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) took the loss, striking out nine in her first start after seven relief appearances.

BSU plays again Tuesday, traveling to Curry College for a doubleheader at 3 p.m.

Mass. Maritime has a doubleheader at home Wednesday against Regis at 4 p.m.